More Healthcare Mandates Means More Money

Many provisions in the Affordable Care Act are designed to protect consumers and lower the cost of insurance. Health insurance companies can’t reject someone for coverage for a medical reason and can’t place lifetime limits on medical coverage. The law also limits how much insurers can charge based on age.

But as insurers prepare to implement a law designed to make health coverage affordable, insurance rates are dramatically increasing. And when the Affordable Care Act really takes effect next year, rates are expected to skyrocket. Florida’s insurance commissioner told the Palm Beach Post that he expects rates in the individual market to climb 30% to 40% next year and in the small-group market to increase by 5% to 20%.

In Florida, 11 insurers filed double-digit rate hikes with the state between May 2012 and June 2013. Several of the state’s largest insurers proposed average rate increases for individual policies of between 10% and nearly 16%, according to rate filings with the state. Florida Blue, for instance, received approval in April to raise premiums on nearly 160,000 individual policies by 14.7%.

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Source: Florida Trend